“The Mask of Anonymity” © Edward Michael Supranowicz

 

Mon anxiété

My anxiety is a hex. It’s the size
of Texas, worse, a Texas zoo.
No, two. It’s a curse. I lost
my wallet. And if I had one,
I’d lose my purse. I’m vaxed.
I’m too everything. A pest.
A bullet going through a bullet-
proof vest. I’m Crest when you
can’t get any more out of the tub.
I’m the never-arriving Grubhub.
I’m an Evil Dead axe. An ex-
who took all your cash. Or
at least, this is me, if all I am
is my anxiety. It’s like having
the infantry never arrive, only
the enemy. An overdose on
Xanax. Panic attacks for
breakfast. I break fast. I
don’t last in bed. I’m last.
I’m passed the expiration date.
The dating apps banned me
for wanting to date. I hate
Bumble and Badoo and
Beelzebub too. I’m the stress
in distress. I’m anaphylaxis.
I’m the XX when the disc
won’t play. I’m the disease
that won’t go away. I’m
ambidextrous when it doesn’t
matter. I’m gay, but seen
as straight, so it’s OK to hate
me publicly. What I mean
by that is I have hidden disability
and gender and race and class
and I’m a cross between BP
and Exxon, an oil spill at
the rate of 205.8 million gallons of gas?
The cassowary—world’s deadliest
talons, can kill a human just by
slashing with its feet, daggerlike.
I’m Mick Jagger-like if you don’t
like Mick Jagger. His songs or
his face or his behavior. I’m
the opposite of a savior. I wish
I was good. But I’m a T. rex.
I’m good at not having sex.
I have to get going, because
I’m next. I flex and they yawn.
I flaunt I’m a hoax. I’m Dexys
Midnight Runners’ least popular
songs. I’m going, going. I’m gone.

 

Ron Riekki was named after both a football player and a baseball player, because his Dad really likes sports. He writes a lot. Right now, Riekki’s listening to The Fat White Family’s “Whitest Boy on the Beach.”

Edward Michael Supranowicz is the grandson of Irish and Russian/Ukrainian immigrants. He grew up on a small farm in Appalachia. He has a grad background in painting and printmaking. Some of his artwork has recently or will soon appear in Fish Food, Streetlight, Another Chicago Magazine, The Door Is A Jar, The Phoenix, and The Harvard Advocate. Edward is also a published poet who has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize multiple times.